'Mind over matter: Two years on' clearly concludes that the wider effects of COVID-19 have impacted children and our young people's lives significantly. And, again, I'm going to pay tribute to Lynne Neagle for all the work that you've done with 'Mind over matter', and I know how passionate and dedicated you are to seeing an improvement in the mental health of our young people.

Barnardo's UK-wide practitioners' survey proves this, because 95 per cent of 275 respondents reported an increase in the number of children and young people experiencing mental health and well-being issues. We owe it to our young people of Wales to ensure that all the calls in the 'Two years on' report are acted on, such as better signposting, addressing the gaps in service, provision for the lower level, therapeutic support, and further work on monitoring the quality and availability of services. The same has to be true for adult services.

Sadly, in north Wales, and in my own constituency, I'm faced, on a weekly basis, where there are such inconsistencies. I'll just give you an insight into just one of my cases, which now proves how dire the situation has become. Due to Conwy community mental health team not having enough social workers based within the team, a very vulnerable constituent of mine was referred to Conwy County Borough Council's community well-being team. Shockingly, despite CMHT—that's the mental health team—being aware of the outcome of the referral, they then discharged a vulnerable individual. The local authority have now confirmed that the referral was not received by them from the CMHT. A review with a consultant psychiatrist found that the individual should have had a care co-ordinator. As we speak—and despite me asking for the past six weeks, and despite the fact my constituent was discharged, as part of COVID measures, over 18 months ago—that constituent still remains on the waiting list. And the situation gets worse. Because there is no care co-ordinator, it has been explained there cannot be a care and treatment plan. Well, I'm sorry, but I sat here during the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, where these plans are supposed to be in place but are not. So, it's a disgraceful standard of care and attention to a very vulnerable individual.

We need annual reports that provide an honest picture as to the severity of the situation on the ground, and we need to help this Welsh Parliament understand what actions are needed to support mental health professionals assisting our communities. I am going to work with Lynne on this, and I have been doing up to now as a Member for a constituency. I want to see a clear mental health workforce plan, and I want a short-term crisis strategy put in place. As part of this, I encourage you to back this campaign to see a trained mental health professional in every GP surgery across our constituencies.

Again, speaking to GPs—I've spoken to one today, and he said, 'The actual time we had a mental health nurse in our practice, it meant we didn't have to refer on; we were able to deal with people at the time'. So, the need for this to be driven forward cannot be starker than when remembering the fact—and this is really sad to reiterate—that more than 3.2 million antidepressant items were prescribed by GPs in Wales in the six months after the COVID pandemic, an increase of 115,660 compared to the previous year, whilst the number of people referred for talking therapies has fallen by a third. 

I wish to close by reminding the Senedd that, alongside the heartbreaking 40 per cent increase in young people presenting in hospital with self-harming, we continue to see a worrying suicide rate in Wales—10.3 deaths per 100 per cent population in 2020. And I've had in my inbox today a note from Samaritans on some really stark reading, which I will read more fully later, but they are really concerned about the cases they're dealing with.

Now, whilst I appreciate, Deputy Llywydd, that there are unique circumstances leading to each of the 285 lives lost, it is a fact that the number of lives affected are considerably higher when you take into account the family and the loved ones who pick up the pieces after such tragic occurrences. It is wrong that the only official contact some families are receiving are police officers informing them of the tragic loss, and then that is it. Those who have been bereaved by suicide become themselves an at-risk group and need specialist practical support, not just in the immediate aftermath.

Whilst I look forward to the publication of the Welsh Government's national framework for the delivery of bereavement care in Wales, an interim study by Cardiff University has found that high levels of emotional support are needed.